Monday, January 2. 2006

As Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and Fatah's Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades announced an end to their self-declared truce of January 2005, under which they pledged to refrain from attacking Israeli targets, an annual summary of terror activities for 2005 released by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Sunday revealed that a total of 2,990 attacks were launched against Israeli targets. The attacks occurred after the truce was announced the report stated.

According to the report, motivation among all the terror groups to attack Israel remains high with the number of monthly terror alerts averaging 57.
There was a significant decrease in the number of Israeli fatalities stemming from terror attacks in 2005 with 45 Israelis killed, a 60 percent reduction from the 117 Israelis killed in such attacks in 2004. Twenty-three of the fatalities in 2005 were killed in seven suicide bomb attacks. There was also a 30% decrease in the number of Israeli casualties in attacks during 2005 with 406 Israelis wounded compared with 589 the previous year.

Yet, in 2005 there was a significant increase in Kassam rocket attacks on Israel with 377 recorded, compared with 309 in the previous year. At the same time there was a decrease in mortar shellings with 848 launched in 2005 compared with 1,231 in 2004. There was also a drop in bombing attacks with 199 recorded in 2005 compared with 592 in 2004. A total of 1,133 shooting attacks were carried out by terror groups in 2005 compared with 1,621 in 2004.

In 2005 security forces arrested 160 potential suicide bombers in raids in West Bank villages and towns, 59 affiliated with the Islamic Jihad, 29 with Hamas, 47 with Fatah Tanzim, 14 with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and 11 with other terror groups.

There was a drastic drop! in terror attacks launched from the Gaza Strip last year, with 1,205 attacks carried out in 2005 compared with 2,637 in 2004.

With the IDF pullout from the Gaza Strip in September 2005 - and especially after Israeli troops no longer maintained a presence on the Philadelphi corridor between Egypt and Rafah - terror groups succeeded in smuggling vast quantities of explosives and weaponry into Gaza from Egypt, the report noted. The Shin Bet estimated that over five tons of explosives, 200 anti-tank grenades, 350 anti-tank rockets, and a number of antiaircraft missiles were among the arms smuggled from Egypt to terror groups in Gaza during September 12-18 alone.

Terror groups operating in the Gaza Strip continued to strengthen their capabilities in preparation for the renewal of violence. Despite assurances by Palestinian security personnel that they were preventing the smuggling of weapons into Gaza, in many instances members of the Palestinian security forces! received bribes in order to "turn a blind eye," the Security Agency said.

The fact that a number of antiaircraft missiles have reached the hands of Gaza terror groups is cause for concern the report stated. Not only does their presence threaten military and civilian aircraft operating in the Gaza area but it had the potential of growing into a far more dangerous threat if the missiles reached terror groups operating in the West Bank said the Shin Bet.

In 2005 there was also a significant increase in attempts to smuggle potential suicide bombers and terrorists from Gaza into the Egyptian Sinai area via the Philadelphi corridor. With the assistance of operatives in Egypt and Beduin criminal elements living in the Negev, organizations launched a number of attempts to smuggle the terrorists into Israel.

Terror groups operating in Samaria were responsible for four suicide bomb attacks in Israel in 2005, claiming the lives of 21 Israelis, compared with two! attacks in 2004 in which 14 Israelis were killed. According to the Shin Bet, terror organizations continued to take advantage of areas where the security fence has yet to be constructed to dispatch suicide bombers.
Jerusalem and the Judea district were the main dispatch points for potential bombers into Israel. In addition, terror groups recruited Israeli citizens to their cause, using drivers who normally smuggled Palestinian workers into Israel to transport bombers through checkpoints. Examples cited included the suicide bomber recruited by Islamic Jihad in Tulkarm who blew up in Hadera in October 26. The lack of a complete security fence in the Jerusalem area allowed the bomber to be transported from Jerusalem to Jiat and from there into Israel. The suicide bomber recruited by Hamas, who blew up in Beersheba on August 28, was smuggled into Israel from the southern Hebron Hills where the security fence has yet to be built.

The report noted that since the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000 and through July 2003 - when construction on the security fence began - terror organizations in Samaria launched a total of 73 suicide bomb attacks in Israel in which 293 Israelis were killed compared with 11 suicide bomb attacks in which 54 Israelis were killed since.

The General Security Services (GSS) has released its 2005 year-end report, which reveals a dramatic increase in weapons brought into Gaza by Arab terrorists since Israel's evacuation of the region.

According to the report, released Monday, there has been a 900% increase in the number of anti-tank missile launchers Arab terrorists have brought into Gaza from Egypt since Israel's unilateral withdrawal in August as compared with the preceding seven months. Approximately 350 anti-tank missiles were brought across the border in the same post-Disengagement period, representing a 600% increase since the Palestinian Authority took over Gaza.

In addition, the GSS reported that an estimated five tons of explosives have made their way into Gaza since August, as well as 5,000 rifles and handguns, and more than a million bullets.

The GSS report states that the PA, which holds jurisdiction ov! er Gaza since the Israeli withdrawal, is doing nothing to halt the flow of weapons into terrorist hands. Therefore, the report concludes, the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip has become an easy, safe passage for the importation of weapons and other supplies for various Arab terrorist groups. In this regard, the GSS sees the abandonment by Israel of the Philadelphi Route, bordering Egypt, as a turning point in the threat Israel faces from Gaza.

Security services say the beefed-up arsenal has provided the terrorists with greater capability and incentive to start firing Kassam rockets into central Israel from Judea and Samaria, as well.

While noting an increase in certain types of terrorist attacks in 2005, the GSS report notes a decrease in the overall number of victims of such attacks. During the year just concluded, there were 2,990 terrorist attacks of all types against Israeli targets, with an increase in rocket attacks (377) over 2004 (309). There were 45 ! Israelis murdered by terrorists in 2005, down from 117 in 2004. Of those killed, half were victims of seven suicide bombings carried out over the last year, four of which took place subsequent to Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria.

The GSS report clarifies that the drop in the number of victims is primarily the result of Israeli measures preventing, disrupting or intercepting terrorist organizations attempting to carry out attacks. The report further specifies that during 2005, the GSS arrested 160 suicide bombers in Judea and Samaria.

Despite declarations of "calm" by terrorist organizations during 2005, the GSS reported that the number of security alerts remained fairly consistent all year. In fact, there was an increase in attacks in the Judea area during the terrorist-declared "calm" as compared to an equivalent period before the declaration. Only in the Gaza region was there a significant decrease in enemy attacks during the period of ! "calm", but still representing 1,205 attacks (as opposed to 2,637 attacks during an equivalent period beforehand).
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Beating out a former Israel Air Force commander and other defense executives, Yitzhak Nissan has been chosen as the next CEO and president of Israel Aircraft Industries, replacing long-time C! EO Moshe Keret who continues to be investigated for alleged illegal business practices.
The IAI board of directors unanimously chose Nissan in a late Thursday night meeting. Nissan takes over on Sunday from Ovadia Harari, who was for the last six weeks acting chief executive of the state-owned aerospace giant.

Nissan, 56, will be acting chief until the government's Spenitz committee and the ministries of Defense and Finance give their stamp of approval.
Nissan, a vice president at IAI, has been the director of the company's space and missile divisions. He was responsible for the MBT, MLM and TAMAM groups which produce missiles, like the Arrow and Barak, attack UAVs as well as satellites and their launchers like the Ofek and Amos. Their sales in 2005 are expected to be about $600 million.
Nissan joined the ranks of IAI as a systems engineer in 1978 and worked many years in the production of precision-guided munitions like the Gabriel and later ! the Barak missiles.

"Mr. Nissan has a wealth of experience in marketing in the defense field and civilian space field. In his positions he led new concepts that brought about development of systems in a great scale. In all of his jobs he showed an ability to lead changes and bring about a production improvements in the organizations he led," an IAI statement said.

The IAI board of directors include Ya'ir Shamir, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Ilan Biran, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Nativ and Aliza Greenboim-Asulin. Among the candidates for the post were former IAF commander Maj.-Gen. (res.) Herzl Bodinger as well as Harari.

Keret, who has been barred from approaching his office or co-workers since November, will be ending his post in February. He has been the CEO of IAI since June 1985.

A police investigation by the International Serious Crimes Unit was launched following a report by the State Comptroller which uncovered alleged financial irregularities in IAI deals with t! wo businessmen who represented the company in Europe. According to police, Keret is suspected of receiving bribes and kickbacks in exchange for preferential treatment and higher-than-average commissions on deals with European countries.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1135696370605&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
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DEBKAfile reveals: 15 Damascus-based Hamas combat chiefs arrived in Gaza through the Rafah terminal in the last week of 2005
January 2, 2006, 11:01 AM (GMT+02:00)

DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that up until Jan 1, 2006 fifteen Damascus-based heads of the Hamas armed wing flew in from Damascus and entered the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing. The most recent arrival on Jan. 1 was Rashid Hamadi, one of the founders of the Hamas Ezz a-Din al Qassam armed wing, who for 13 years operated out of Damascus and Beirut. DEBKAfile’s sources learn that the Hamas operations director Imad al Alami is also on his way. The video cameras at the Rafah terminal and the European monitors recorded their arrival and passed the data on to the IDF and Shin Beit. None of these bodies was in a position to keep the terrorists from entering the Gaza Strip or prevent their free movement through the crossing to and from Damascus headquarters. Last week, Nizar Rayan, the number three Hamas commander in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, took off for consultations in Damascus by the same r! oute. While repeatedly pointing the finger at the Syrian capital as the real sources of Palestinian terrorist and suicide attacks, nothing is being done to plug the open route between Damascus and Gaza

DEBKAfile Exclusive: The Palestinian armory has a new weapon: Jenin-1 on the West Bank joins the Qassam missile of Gaza
January 2, 2006, 12:00 AM (GMT+02:00)

It may have been the IDF computer, but whoever chose the romantic name of Blue Skies for Israel’s no-go zone operation in northern Gaza to stop the firing of Qassam missiles from northern Gaza m! ust have a fine sense of irony. Sunday, the first day of the New Year, the skies were indeed blue but the air below was clouded by four Qassam missiles launched for the first time from three Gaza Strip sectors. One missile fired from the south, near the Egyptian border, landed near Kibbutz Mivtahim; two more launched from the center exploded outside Nir Oz and a fourth fired from the no-go zone in the north blew up at the edge of Sderot. No one was hurt in this barrage. The IDF explained that all the missiles were fired from outside the buffer belt, proving that the new tactic was successfully pushing the Palestinian terrorists south. DEBKAfile’s military experts see things in a different light.

The Sharon government is holding Israel’s armed forces on a tight leash against taking effective action to halt the Qassam offensive. In consequence, Israel’s deterrent capability is being ground down in Palestinian eyes. Furthermore, three weeks ago, the Palestinians were able! to fire their first missile from the West Bank into Israel. It was aimed from a point north of Jenin at Moshav Adirim outside the West Bank less than 8-9 km distant. The news was held back officially and only partially released for publication Friday night Dec. 30 when media viewing is low. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the West Bank version of the Qassam was developed by the ruling Fatah al Aqsa Brigades faction in Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarm, for distribution across the West Bank. These sources have no doubt that Jenin-1 will soon be followed by Jenin-2 and Jenin-3, with improved range and a more powerful blast. The Jenin differs from the Gazan Qassam in two important respects: 1. It does not depend on Gaza-developed technology, but is a West Bank product from start to finish. 2. It is not wielded by Hamas and Jihad Islami like the Qassam but the weapon of the al Aqsa Brigades, a branch of the ruling Fatah of which Mahmoud Abbas is the titular head, along w! ith the jailed terrorist Marwan Barghouti. The first is the US-Israeli partner in dialogue; the latter heads the Fatah slate for the Jan. 25 election. Once the Jenin missile starts flying towards Israel’s population centers, the security situation will start plunging not only around Gaza’s blue skies but also opposite the West Bank.

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